"Oh-oo, fishy, fishy, fishy FISH!"-Monty Python

Okay.
It's not a big job. It's not a 20 foot-tall marionette. It's not a
full-sized elephant, or a 17 foot tall Dragon. But it's an *important*
job. One that has to look right. Look believable, in every detail. Look
*real*.

The Specs:
Create a very realistic, believable, 24 inch-long puppet replica of a
Walleye fish. It's got to have a moving mouth, as it's going to deliver
dialogue. Flaring gills, because the fisherman has just hoisted it from
the water. And, of course, flopping movements of its tail and body.

Rick
Lazzarini and The Character Shop, known for creating incredible
animatronic animals, were asked to create and bring this fish to life
by Producer Jeff Tanner. Not a Saugeye, not a Sauger...but a Walleye.

There's a difference! Did you know that? We didn't before the job...but we sure do now!

The natural choice for materials? Silicone, platinum-based. TCS'
Art Department experimented extensively with pearlescent pigments in
both the cast material skin and the paint, to achieve the maximum
natural translucency that these fish have, while keeping that shiny
iridescence that changes as the light hits it from different angles.

The fish ends up being a single unit, but is in fact assembled from several pieces: Every fin is separately sculpted, molded, cast, and attached. The body skin is one
piece, and separate from the head skin, which itself is three pieces:
The upper, lower, and inner-mouth parts. All skillfully and seamlessly
combined.

In keeping with the
translucency, the inner body core was created from clear Dental
Acrylic, so no "green" fiberglass/resin hue would be imparted. And
because...well, you know how a fishes'
mouth is of that wierd, hard, cartilaginous construction with sharp
teeth? Well, clear Dental Acrylic fit the bill perfectly there, too.
All we had to do was mechanize it.

Rick himself created the Radio-Controlled inner body mechanism, which
consisted of a servo-powered push-pull linkage for the mouth
open-and-close, a clever rotary-to-linear double push for the gill
"flaring", and two vertical-axis pivot points for body/tail wiggle.
The inside skin of thefish was carefully snipped to give the
double-soft silicone even more flexibility, so that a good part of the
tail wiggle would be a natural, reciprocating organic floppiness.

All the servos were either
of the waterproof variety, or carefully sealed and greased to make them
H2O resistant. The receiver and battery connectors also were swathed in
silicone elastomer or grease to keep water out, as the fish would be
submersed in a lake for some shots, then pulled up.

All it took from then was packing a Set Kit,
flying and driving to a beautiful, secluded lake in the middle of
Wisconsin, and bringing the fish to life for several shots and takes,
and many a happy Client, Producer, and Agency person! Oh, and we brought back 2 Cheeseheads, and a couple of tick bites on our tummy. ;-)

Here's a look at the final fish, a movement test of the finished puppet, ready to go to set!

This is the level of attention to detail that we could be giving *your* project.

Remember, The Character
Shop can bring just about any animal, alien, creature, or character to
life, using animatronics, puppetry, and a bit of talent and wizardy!
Give us a call or email us at The Character Shop.